Space Rocks – A mini-unit about meteorites

Meteorites and impacts are fascinating. My students love them. Here are some lesson plans I use to engage my students in learning.

Impact Lesson Plans

Instead of calling this unit my “Geoscience” unit, I call it my Meteorite unit. Kids are instantly more engaged and curious. Here are some pieces I like to include:

1. Engaging with phenomena – Show students various rocks but include one or two meteorites in the collection without telling students what they are. Let them explore the rocks with a magnet (meteorites are magnetic and very few Earth rocks are). Have them r calculate the density of each rock (meteorites are more dense than Earth rocks). You can purchase some small and inexpensive pieces through your regular lab supply company or through ebay.
2. Impact lab. Use controlled experiments to try to create impact craters that resemble simple or complex craters on the Moon.
3. Meteorite information presented as either a slideshow, a picture walk or informational text. Students should be able to describe the development of impact theory as a cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs and identify several important meteorite impact sites on Earth.
4. Lab – Is it a meteorite or a meteorwrong? What are the differences between earth rocks and space rocks?
5. Enrichment for advanced students – Use meteorite samples to conduct chemical tests to identify which kind of meteorites they are. Take a virtual tour of Meteor Crater.  Use Google Earth to measure the sizes of other craters on Earth.

When do you teach impacts?

The science of asteroids, meteoroids and comets can be learned in nearly any earth science unit. When you’re teaching the rock cycle, include the differences between earth rocks and space rocks. When you’re teaching geologic time, include impact driven mass extinctions. When you teach relative and absolute dating, include overlapping craters on the Moon. Asteroids, meteoroids and comets fit naturally into your solar system and astronomy unit – How are they formed? How are they observed? How are their orbits calculated? They are also good for addressing controls and variables if you do a scientific method unit – Have students conduct controlled experiments to try to create impact craters that resemble simple or complex craters on the Moon. 

Standards-based

Not only are students fascinated by meteorites and impacts, learning about them can hit several of the middle school and high school NGSS:

• • MS-ESS2-2 – Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
  • HS-ESS1-6 – Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.
  • Science and Engineering Practices – Constructing Explanations and Designing solutions
  • Science and Engineering Practices – Science models, laws, mechanisms, and theories explain natural phenomena
  • Crosscutting concepts – Stability and Change